Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Home prices in November continued their fall from the bubble-high prices of 2006, dropping by 1.3 percent compared to October, according to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city report.

Sales prices fell for the second consecutive month in 19 of the 20 cities the index covers.

Analysts had not expected such a steep decline because mortgage interest rates remain low and the nation’s gross domestic product grew during the fourth quarter of the year.

Prices are down 3.7 percent from a year ago, and off 32.8 percent since their bubble-high peak in the summer of 2006.

“The trend is down and there are few, if any, signs in the numbers that a turning point is close at hand,” says David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Indices.

Despite the low mortgage rates and growth in the GDP, other conditions are contributing to tumbling home prices.

When house prices rose to bubble highs, 89 percent or more of all working-age Americans had a job. Now, only 64 percent of Americans of working age are employed, including about 8 million who are working part-time because they can’t find a full-time job, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Moreover, half of all Americans earn $33,000 or less per year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

That means there are fewer qualified buyers in the market. In part, that is because the average price of homes in many areas still exceeds three times the annual income of most Americans. Those conditions further reduce the number of buyers, which continues to exert downward pressure on home prices.

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New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Could the housing industry be on the mend? According to a report Wednesday from the National Association of Home Builders, it just might be.

The NAHB/Wells Fargo Hosing Market index rose to 25 in January from 21 the prior month.

It was the highest level since 2007, when the housing market was collapsing. After remaining in a tight range for about a year, the index has been showing some signs of life since October, reinforcing optimism that the ailing housing market is finding a bottom.

However, the index is a far reach from the 50 mark, which indicates more builders still view market conditions as poor rather than favorable. The index has not been above 50 since 2006.

The good news is that builders are seeing growing interest among potential buyers helped by rising employment and consumer confidence improvements.

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Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – U.S. residential house prices dropped by 1.2 percent in October compared with September, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city index.

In addition, S&P/Case-Shiller issued a negative outlook for housing prices.

“There was weakness in the monthly statistics, as 19 of the cities posted price declines in October over September,” said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Indices. “Nationally, home prices are still below where they were a year ago.”

It was the sixth consecutive month of decline. Prices were down by 3.4 percent compared to October 2010.

The only exception to price drops was in Phoenix where prices were actually up by 0.3 percent. However, the other 19 cities saw declines, with the Midwest markets and the Atlanta metro area losing the most value. There was some good news in the report for Detroit when viewed on an annual basis.

Housing values in the Atlanta metro area plunged by 5 percent in October after diving 5.9 percent in September.

“Atlanta and the Midwest are regions that really stand out in terms of recent relative weakness. Atlanta was down 5.0 percent over the month, after having fallen by 5.9 percent in September. It also has the weakest annual return, down 11.7 percent. Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit and Minneapolis all posted monthly declines of 1.0 percent or more in October. These markets were some of the strongest during the spring/summer buying season,” Blitzer said. “However, Detroit is the healthiest when viewed on an annual basis. It is up 2.5 percent versus October 2010. Atlanta, Cleveland, Detroit and Las Vegas are four markets where average prices are below their January 2000 levels; and Atlanta and Las Vegas posted new lows in October.”

Some analysts were disappointed because several other reports had indicated that housing prices might be stabilizing. That included increases in existing home sales, home building starts and record-low interest rates.

However, much of the increase in existing home sales came from lower-priced short sales or foreclosures.

Although house prices have dropped 33 percent in value since the housing bubble burst, analysts point out that demand is still weak and that housing prices have still not fully dropped from the inflated bubble-high values that caused the housing market to crash.

In addition, there are fewer buyers. Only 64 percent of working age Americans have jobs and nearly 8 million of those are involuntarily working part-time. Before the recession, 89 percent of working age Americans had a job.

Other factors prevent people from buying homes. Among them is inadequate income, damaged credit that means they cannot qualify for a mortgage, or the inability to sell an existing home.

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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Fewer homes were sold during the past five years than previously estimated so the National Association of Realtors announce it plans to release revised figures with a downward estimate on Dec. 21.

NAR made the announcement on Tuesday. The trade group organization said it had made mistakes in previous reports on existing home sales going back to 2007.

The monthly report on sales of existing homes is one of the most closely watched barometers of the health of the nation’s housing market. The housing market, in turn, is a closely watched gauge of the health of the economy as a whole.

That meant there might be many ramifications from a downward revision of the number of existing homes sold over the past five years. The numbers were already bad.

Analytics firm CoreLogic earlier said its data showed that NAR had overstated existing home sales by 15percent for 2010.

The NAR hasn’t stated exactly how large the downward revision to existing homes sales figures will be. However, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun called the drop “meaningful” and said that the housing market’s downturn was “deeper” than originally thought.

Nevertheless, NAR said the undercount was inadvertent and not deliberate and happened because the economy had changed.

The database the NAR has always used to track existing home sales is the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).

However, using the MLS for the past five years led to an over count of existing home sales. The MLS only counts houses sold by realtors and not those listed by owners. But the economic downturn led more people to use realtors instead of selling their homes themselves. Yun said that resulted in an artificial inflation in the number of realtor-listed existing home sales.

In addition, there was an increase in duplication or counting the same sale more than once in the figures.

The NAR said re-benchmarking its figures is a normal process that occurs periodically. The trade group said it is issuing revised figures after consulting with CoreLogic, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Federal Reserve, the Mortgage Bankers Association, and the National Association of Home Builders.

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Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – National home prices declined by 3.9 percent during the third quarter, which was a larger decrease than expected but still less than the 5.8 percent drop posted in the second quarter.

Many analysts had only expected a 3 percent drop in housing prices.

The 3.9 percent drop places home prices back at their first quarter 2003 level, which was still in the run-up phase to the record highs seen in 2006 before the housing bubble burst.

David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Indices, put the situation in perspective, noting that higher house prices would require a better economy.

“Home prices drifted lower in September and the third quarter,” says Blitzer. “The National Index was down 3.9 percent versus the third quarter of 2010 and up only 0.1 percent from the previous quarter. Three cities posted new index lows in September 2011 – Atlanta, Las Vegas and Phoenix. Seventeen of the 20 cities and both Composites were down for the month. Over the last year, home prices in most cities drifted lower. The plunging collapse of prices seen in 2007-2009 seems to be behind us. Any chance for a sustained recovery will probably need a stronger economy.”

The 3.9 percent drop in home prices was the national rate of decline. Another S&P Index of prices in only 20 metro markets found prices only dropped by 3.6 percent in those select areas.

If an end to the drop in housing prices depends on a stronger economy, that day is not yet in site.

Although the official unemployment rate stands at 9 percent, only 64.2 percent of working-age Americans has a job compared to 89 percent before the 2007 crash in housing prices. In addition, more than 8 million Americans are involuntarily working part-time because either their employer reduced their hours or they are unable to find full-time work, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

In the meantime, about 10.7 million Americans owe more on their home than it is worth. That’s more than one in every five mortgages, but down from the 10.9 million who were underwater in the second quarter. The decline isn’t because the other 264,000 sold their homes but rather because the banks foreclosed on those people, according to data from the New York Federal Reserve showing that number of people had a foreclosure added to their credit reports.

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New York, NY, United States (AHN) – For just the second time in history, the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage fell below 4 percent in the latest week.

After falling to an average 3.94 percent on a 30-year fixed mortgage in the week ending Oct. 6, rates had picked up over the past months.

However, amid signs that the economy is still in a slow recovery mode, the average rate fell to an average 3.99 percent in the week ending Nov. 10., down from 4 percent in the previous week, and 4.17 percent a year ago, according to mortgage giant Freddie Mac.

Rates on 15-year fixed mortgages also dropped slightly, averaging 3.3 percent, down from last week’s 3.31 percent average and 3.57 percent a year ago.

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McLean, VA, United States (AHN) – Freddie Mac Chief Executive Charles Haldeman Jr. and non-Executive Chairman John Koskinen will step down from their posts sometime in 2012, the regulator overseeing the mortgage giant announced on Wednesday.

Board member Christopher Lynch will replace Koskinen. Other directors who will also leave are Robert Glauber and Laurence Hirsch.

The changes in top management are indicator or more changes in Freddie Mac as Washington redesigns the mortgage finance giant to play a bigger role in a new plan announced this week by President Barack Obama to help underwater homeowners refinance their mortgages at lower rates.

Haldeman had served as chief executive since July 2009. In the case of Koskinen and Glauber, their departure from Freddie Mac is because they have reached mandatory retirement age.

Freddie Mac and another mortgage giant, Fannie Mae, are under the supervision of the Federal Housing Finance Agency because of the infusion by Washington of over $130 billion during the financial crisis of 2008.

Freddie Mac has not posted a yearly profit since 2006 and is at loggerheads with large U.S. banks because of its demand for billions of dollars in refunds for defective mortgages the company purchased from the banks during the housing bubble.

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New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Market researcher RealtyTrac reported Thursday that the number of U.S. homeowners receiving first-time default notices rose 14 percent from July to September. First-time default notices are the first step in a process that leads to repossession.

The increase is a sign that banks are once again moving forward at a rapid rate against homeowners who have fallen behind in their mortgage payments.

On a positive note, the rate was 34 percent lower than the same period a year ago.

Faster foreclosures could also mean a faster turnaround for the housing market, experts say. But they also caution that the market will not see a revival while a large number of foreclosures still exists.

It also took longer for a home to reach foreclosure. In the third quarter, it took an average of 336 days, or 11.2 months, for a U.S. home to go from receiving an initial notice to being foreclosed by a lender. That was up from 318 days, or 10.6 months, from the second quarter. RealtyTrac notes that is the longest time span for the foreclosure process since the first quarter of 2007.

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Miami, FL, United States (AHN) – A trust filed a $7.6 billion lawsuit on Monday against giant American accounting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu for its alleged failure to detect fraud in its audit of defunct mortgage company Taylor, Bean & Whitaker.

Neil Luna, the trustee overseeing the failed firm, claimed that Deloitte, which audited Taylor Bean’s financial statements from 2002 to 2009, ignored red flag warnings on the company’s books and allowed former Taylor Bean chairman Lee Farkas to create a fraud that led to the closure of the firm.

The $7.6 billion claim combines the losses of Taylor Bean and its Ocala Funding unit.

Luna charged the accounting firm was negligent and turned a blind eye to the fraud In particular, Luna pointed to Deloitte’s certification of the Taylor Bean books as having provided the company the appearance of a legitimate mortgage enterprise.

He said the company sold false or highly overvalued mortgages, wrongly stated its liabilities and hid overdrawn bank accounts that were indicators of the audit firm’s failure to do its job.

Taylor Bean, which used to be the 12th largest mortgage lender in the U.S., closed in August 2009 after a federal raid on its offices. Seven company executives were convicted of federal criminal charges; Farkas was given a 30-year jail sentence and the six others got prison terms ranging from three months to eight years.

Deloitte spokesman Jonathan Gandal denied Luna’s allegations and dismissed the charges as without merit.

Gandal described the lawsuit as a bizarre notion that the people behind the downfall of Taylor Bean could complain about injury caused by their own crimes and sue outside auditors. He added the lawsuit defies common sense and law.

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Irvine, CA, United States (AHN) – U.S. banks fast tracked their foreclosure process after almost 12 months of delay, resulting in home foreclosures in the country going up 33 percent in August.

A report from RealtyTrac released on Wednesday said that first-time default notices were filed on 78,880 properties, which is the highest in nine months. Including auction and home-seizure notice, total foreclosure filings grew 7 percent from a four-year low in July to 228,098.

James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, said in a statement, “The big increase in new foreclosure actions may be a signal that lenders are starting to push through some of the foreclosures delayed by robo-signing and other documentation problems.”

He added, “It also foreshadows more bank repossessions in the coming months as these new foreclosures make their way through the process.”

RealtyTrac Senior Vice President Rick Sharga said because of the artificially low rate of foreclosure filings which went down for the 11th consecutive month, the housing industry’s restart could break the logjam of foreclosure proceedings.

However, total filings for August went down also by 33 percent compared to a year ago. In the same month default notices dipped 18 percent and scheduled auctions went down 43 percent.

Banks seized 64,813 properties last month, which went down 4 percent compared to July property seizures.

By state, default notices grew in California by 55 percent, in Indiana 46 percent and in New Jersey 42 percent. By foreclosure rate, Nevada topped the list since one in 118 households got a filing. Next was California (one in 226), followed by Arizona (one in 248) and Georgia, Idaho, Michigan, Florida, Illinois, Colorado and Utah.

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